Lawrence O’Donnell

As Herman Cain rises in the polls, the race warlords and their enablers are dusting off their tired old arguments and attacking the black man who has had the temerity to wander off the plantation and dares to buck the conventional wisdom.

First up was Harry Belafonte, ripping into Cain as a “bad apple” and claimed he has no authority to talk about “the pride of people of color.” No one is sure what gives Belafonte such “authority” but he certainly had no problem exercising it on “The View” in answer to questions by enabler Joy Behar.

Behar opened the floor to the topic on her program tonight, noting Cain’s comments and asking for a response. “It’s very hard to comment on someone who is so denied intelligence,” Belafonte replied, “someone who has denied such a view of history.” Adding that Cain only believed that because “he happened to have good fortune, a moment when he broke through– the moment someone blinked,” he insisted statistics on the number of black people in the American prison system and the exorbitant unemployment rate in the black community clearly disproved Cain’s point.

The comment by Cain to which Belafonte was replying was that racism isn’t “hold[ing] anybody back in a big way today.” Cain just doesn’t see racism as a significant problem for blacks this day.

Notice the premise of Belafonte’s attack. Someone “blinked”. He means, of course, some whites obviously screwed up and let a black man slip through a crack and succeed. The obvious implication is that such a thing is a) unusual and b) a mistake. Belafonte also implies that Cain’s success is a matter of “good fortune” and not talent, drive, hard work or an entrepreneurial spirit.

He simply lucked out and was in the right place at the right time when the racist white power structure screwed up and let the black guy succeed.

Of course, one has to understand what a significant threat Herman Cain’s success and popularity are to those who’ve made a business and significant living in the racial hatred field. If Herman Cain is right, they’re out of business.

So how does one maintain the myth that racism is a significant problem today for people of color? And what must those who’ve built a very nice lifestyle doing so do when that myth is attacked and threatens that lifestyle?

Attack the miscreant that is voicing this heresy and destroy his credibility, of course. The politics of personal destruction, something at which the left is quite accomplished. Herman Cain is the new Clarence Thomas.

Appearing Monday on "CNN Newsroom," PBS host Tavis Smiley and Princeton University Professor Dr. Cornell West –the brain trust for the 18-city "Poverty Tour" that aims to highlight the plight of poor people– begged to differ.

"There are disparities in this country in every [socioeconomic] factor that we follow. In every aspect of our human endeavors in this country there is a racial disparity element that’s a part of it. It’s almost silly to respond to [Cain] because the evidence is so overwhelming," Smiley said in the interview with CNN anchor Suzanne Malveaux.

"There’s disparity in healthcare. There’s disparity economically."

West, taking a sharper route, also challenged Cain’s understanding of the economic issues that affect black Americans, saying, "Black people have been working hard for decades. I think [Cain] needs to get off the symbolic crack pipe and acknowledge the evidence is overwhelming."

Overwhelming in what way? If a true disparity exists, is it a result of racism or could it have its roots in another area? The lazy answer is “racism”. It’s the easy way out. It is the route that doesn’t demand internal self-examination and self-criticism. It is the blame-shifting way which results in the maintenance of the threatened lifestyle.

Black “leaders” continue to blame the problems in the black community on whites and continue to stay in the racism business while nothing changes in the black community.

Smiley referenced this political shift, saying that Cain’s comments about the insignificance of racism can be attributed, in part, to how these views will resonate with Republican voters.

"Herman Cain is trying to get the GOP nomination," Smiley said. "When you’re running for the nomination of a Republican Party…these are the kind of statements that you make that play to your base. It’s politics."

Smiley continued, saying that President Barack Obama’s rendezvous with racism should be noted.

"There’s no comparison in history for any president that’s had a budget the size of the Secret Service budget now just to protect Barack Obama and we’re talking about whether or not [Cain] has a point about racism in America?"

That’s the proof – the Secret Service has a bigger budget now than in the past, Obama is a black man, therefore the budget increase must be proof that racists are trying to harm a black man who happens to be president.

Really? Note the underpants gnome approach to that conclusion by a supposed educator. Logic free, correlation is causation.

This is what the race baiters are reduced too right now. Illogic and irrationality. Anything necessary to keep the genie in the bottle. These sorts of attacks and the type of attack Lawrence O’Donnell launched on Herman Cain in an interview are what you will see in the coming weeks if Cain continues to rise in the polls.

Barack Obama is acceptable to the race warlords because they can spin him as a black man who succeeded on their terms. Herman Cain, on the other hand, is a threat to every premise and myth they hope keep alive.

Herman Cain is a threat to the race warlords because he is ready to put the “racism” claim to death. He’s the proven exception to the race warlord’s cherished premises. Smart people know Cain’s success can’t be relegated to “good fortune” and white racists letting down their guard. Cain is everything the racebaiters say is impossible for a black man in America to accomplish. And, of course, he doesn’t toe the line they have drawn to keep the race war alive and profitable.

Herman Cain has to go and you can count on the usual suspects to do everything in their power to discredit and destroy the man. Instead of taking pride in the success of a man of color, the Belafonte’s, Smiley’s and Sharpton’s of this world want him gone.